Description of Securities

EX-4.10 2 kodk-ex410_259.htm EX-4.10 EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY DESCRIPTION OF COMMON STOCK kodk-ex410_259.htm

Exhibit (4.10)

 

EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY
DESCRIPTION OF COMMON STOCK

Eastman Kodak Company, a New Jersey corporation (the “Company”), has one class of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”): its common stock, par value $0.01 per share (“Common Stock”).

General

The Company is authorized to issue up to 500,000,000 shares of Common Stock and 60,000,000 shares of preferred stock, no par value per share. The rights of holders of the Common Stock are subject to the rights of holders of any series of preferred stock that may be issued from time to time (including the 2,000,000 shares of the Company’s currently outstanding 5.50% Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, no par value per share (the “Series A Preferred Stock”)), including liquidation rights, special voting rights and preferences with respect to payment of dividends. For a more detailed description of the terms of our capital stock, please refer to the Company’s Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and amendments thereto (collectively, the “Certificate”) and the Fourth Amended and Restated By-Laws (the “By-Laws”) filed as exhibits to the report to which this description is filed as an exhibit.

Dividends

Subject to applicable law and to the designated preferential rights of any outstanding series of preferred stock that the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) may cause to be issued, from time to time, the holders of Common Stock will be entitled to dividends as may be declared from time to time by the Board.

Holders of Series A Preferred Stock are entitled to receive cash dividends in an amount equal to the dividend rate of 5.50% of the liquidation preference of $100.00 per share of Series A Preferred Stock (the “liquidation preference”). Dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock will be paid in cash if the Company has funds legally available for payment and the Board, or an authorized committee thereof, declares a cash dividend payable.

Prior to the mandatory redemption date of the Series A Preferred Stock, unless all accumulated and unpaid dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock have been paid in full or a sum for such amounts has been set aside for payment, the Company may not declare dividends on shares of Common Stock or any other shares of the Company’s stock ranking junior or equal to the Series A Preferred Stock and may not purchase, redeem or otherwise acquire such shares, subject to certain customary exceptions.

Ranking

The Common Stock ranks junior to the Series A Preferred Stock as to payment of dividends and distributions of assets upon the liquidation, dissolution or winding up of Company.

Voting Rights

Each share of Common Stock entitles the holder thereof to one vote on all matters, including the election of directors, and, except as otherwise required by law or provided in any resolution adopted by our Board with respect to any series of preferred stock, the holders of the shares of Common Stock will possess all voting power. Generally, all matters to be voted on by the shareholders must be approved by a majority of the votes cast at a meeting at which a quorum is present, subject to state law and any voting rights granted to any of the holders of preferred stock.  Holders of Series A Preferred Stock are entitled to vote upon all matters upon which holders of Common Stock have the right to vote, and will be entitled to the number of votes equal to the number of full shares of Common Stock into which such shares of Series A Preferred Stock could be converted at the then applicable conversion rate, at the record date, such votes to be counted together with shares of Common Stock and not separately as a class. The Certificate provides for certain limitations on the voting rights of holders of Common Stock with respect to amendments to the Certificate that affect the terms of outstanding preferred stock, including the Series A Preferred Stock.

 


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Directors

The number of directors shall be no fewer than seven and not more than 13, or as otherwise fixed pursuant to the Fourth Amended and Restated By-laws of the Company.  Holders of Common Stock do not have cumulative voting rights with respect to the election of directors. A nominee for director shall be elected to the Board if the nominee receives a majority of the votes cast at a meeting at which a quorum is present. A nominee receives a majority of the votes cast if the votes “for” such nominee’s election exceed the votes “against” such nominee’s election. However, directors shall be elected by a plurality of the votes cast in any contested election for directors. A “contested election” is any election in which the number of nominees seeking election is more than the number of directors to be elected. Shareholders will be permitted only to vote “for” or “withhold” authority in a contested election.

The holders of the Series A Preferred Stock currently have the contractual right to nominate two individuals for election as members of the Board.  If and when dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock are in arrears for six or more dividend periods, the holders of Series A Preferred Stock (voting with holders of all other classes of preferred stock of the Company whose voting rights are then exercisable) are entitled to vote for the election of two additional directors in the next annual meeting and all subsequent meetings until all accumulated dividends on such Series A Preferred Stock and other voting preferred stock have been paid or set aside, during which period the number of individuals the holders of the Series A Preferred Stock are contractually entitled to nominate will be reduced by two.  If and when all accumulated dividends have been paid on the Series A Preferred Stock and other voting preferred stock, such rights of such holders of Series A Preferred Stock and other voting preferred stock will immediately cease and the contractual nomination right of the holders of the Series A Preferred Stock will be reinstated.

Except as may otherwise be required by law or by the Certificate, the By-Laws may be amended, altered, or repealed, in whole or in part, by the affirmative vote of a majority of the Board.  The stockholders, by a majority of the votes cast at a meeting of the stockholders called for such purpose, may adopt, alter, amend or repeal the By-Laws whether made by the Board or otherwise; such amendments adopted by the stockholders may not be amended or repealed by action of the Board without (i) the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast at a meeting of the stockholders called for such purpose or (ii) approval by written consent of the stockholders.

Other

The holders of Common Stock do not have preemptive rights. There are no subscription, redemption, conversion or sinking fund provisions with respect to the Common Stock.

Pursuant to section 1123(a)(6) of chapter 11 of title 11 of the United States Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”), the Company is prohibited from issuing any non-voting equity securities for so long as section 1123 of the Bankruptcy Code is in effect and applicable to the Company. This restriction on the issuance of non-voting equity securities is included in the Certificate.

The transfer agent and registrar for the Common Stock, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KODK, is Computershare Shareowner Services.

Anti-Takeover Provisions

Various provisions contained in the Certificate, the By-Laws, and New Jersey law could delay or discourage some transactions involving an actual or potential change in control of the Company or its management. Provisions in the Certificate and the By-Laws:

 

 

provide that only a majority of the Board, the Chairman or the President may call a special meeting of the stockholders, except that a special meeting must be called upon the request from at least 20% of the total number of votes represented by the entire amount of capital stock of the Company issued and outstanding and entitled to vote at the meeting;

 

 

provide an advanced written notice procedure with respect to stockholder proposals and stockholder nomination of candidates for election as directors; and

 


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provide that directors may fill any vacancies on the Board, including vacancies resulting from an increase the number of directors.

 

In addition, the Company is subject to Section 14A-10A of the New Jersey Shareholders Protection Act, a type of anti-takeover statute designed to protect stockholders against coercive, unfair or inadequate tender offers and other abusive tactics and to encourage any person contemplating a business combination with the Company to negotiate with the Board for the fair and equitable treatment of all stockholders. Subject to certain qualifications and exceptions, the statute prohibits an interested stockholder of a corporation from effecting a business combination with the corporation for a period of five years unless the corporation’s board of directors approved the combination prior to the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder or after the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder if the corporation’s board of directors approved both the transaction causing a person to become an interested stockholder and the subsequent business combination. In addition, but not in limitation of the five-year restriction, if applicable, corporations covered by the New Jersey statute may not engage at any time in a business combination with any interested stockholder of that corporation unless the combination is approved by the board of directors prior to the interested stockholder’s stock acquisition date, the combination receives the approval of two-thirds of the voting stock of the corporation not beneficially owned by the interested stockholder or the combination meets minimum financial terms specified by the statute.

An “interested stockholder” is defined to include any beneficial owner of 10% or more of the voting power of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation and any affiliate or associate of the corporation who within the prior five year period has at any time owned 10% or more of the voting power of the then outstanding stock of the corporation.

The term “business combination” is defined to include a broad range of transactions including, among other things:

 

 

 

the merger or consolidation of the corporation with the interested stockholder or any corporation that is or after the merger or consolidation would be an affiliate or associate of the interested stockholder,

 

 

 

the sale, lease, exchange, mortgage, pledge, transfer or other disposition to an interested stockholder or any affiliate or associate of the interested stockholder of 10% or more of the corporation’s assets, or

 

 

 

the issuance or transfer to an interested stockholder or any affiliate or associate of the interested stockholder of 5% or more of the aggregate market value of the stock of the corporation.

The effect of the statute is to protect non-tendering, post-acquisition minority stockholders from mergers in which they will be “squeezed out” after the merger, by prohibiting transactions in which an acquirer could favor itself at the expense of minority stockholders. The statute generally applies to corporations that are organized under New Jersey law.